After Muhammad had
preached publicly for more than a decade, the opposition to him reached such a
high pitch that, fearful for their safety, he sent some of his adherents to
Ethiopia, where the Christian ruler extended protection to them, the memory of
which has been cherished by Muslims ever since. But in Mecca the persecution
worsened. Muhammad's followers were harassed, abused, and even tortured. At
last, therefore, Muhammad sent seventy of his followers off to the northern town
of Yathrib, which was later to be renamed Medina ("The City"). Later,
in the early fall of 622, he learned of a plot to murder him and, with his
closest friend, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, set off to join the emigrants.

In Mecca the
plotters arrived at Muhammad's home to find that his cousin, 'Ali, had taken his
place in bed. Enraged, the Meccans set a price on Muhammad's head and set off in
pursuit. Muhammad and Abu Bakr, however, had taken refuge in a cave where, as
they hid from their pursuers, a spider spun its web across the cave's mouth.
When they saw that the web was unbroken, the Meccans passed by and Muhammad and
Abu Bakr went on to Medina, where they were joyously welcomed by a throng of
Medinans as well as the Meccans who had gone ahead to prepare the way.

This was the Hijrah
- anglicized as Hegira - usually, but inaccurately, translated as
"Flight" - from which the Muslim era is dated. In fact, the Hijrah was
not a flight but a carefully planned migration, which marks not only a break in
history - the beginning of the Islamic era- but also, for Muhammad and the
Muslims, a new way of life. Henceforth, the organizational principle of the
community was not to be mere blood kinship, but the greater brotherhood of all
Muslims. The men who accompanied Muhammad on the Hijrah were called the
Muhajirun - "those that made the Hijrah" or the "Emigrants"
- while those in Medina who became Muslims were called the Ansar or
"Helpers."

Muhammad was well
acquainted with the situation in Medina. Earlier, before the Hijrah, the city
had sent envoys to Mecca asking Muhammad to mediate a dispute between two
powerful tribes. What the envoys saw and heard had impressed them and they had
invited Muhammad to settle in Medina. After the Hijrah, Muhammad's exceptional
qualities so impressed the Medinans that the rival tribes and their allies
temporarily closed ranks as, on March 15, 624, Muhammad and his supporters moved
against the pagans of Mecca.

The first battle,
which took place near Badr, now a small town southwest of Medina, had several
important effects. In the first place, the Muslim forces, outnumbered three to
one, routed the Meccans. Secondly, the discipline displayed by the Muslims
brought home to the Meccans, perhaps for the first time, the abilities of the
man they had driven from their city. Thirdly, one of the allied tribes, which
had pledged support to the Muslims in the Battle of Badr, but had then proved
lukewarm when the fighting started, was expelled from Medina one month after the
battle. Those who claimed to be allies of the Muslims, but tacitly opposed them,
were thus served warning: membership in the community imposed the obligation of
total support.

A year later the
Meccans struck back. Assembling an army of three thousand men, they met the
Muslims at Uhud, a ridge outside Medina. After an initial success the Muslims
were driven back and the Prophet himself was wounded. As the Muslims were not
completely defeated, the Meccans, with an army of ten thousand, attacked Medina
again two years later but with quite different results. At the Battle of the
Trench, also known as the Battle of the Confederates, the Muslims scored a
signal victory by introducing a new defense. On the side of Medina from which
attack was expected they dug a trench too deep for the Meccan cavalry to clear
without exposing itself to the archers posted behind earthworks on the Medina
side. After an inconclusive siege, the Meccans were forced to retire. Thereafter
Medina was entirely in the hands of the Muslims.

The Constitution of
Medina - under which the clans accepting Muhammad as the Prophet of God formed
an alliance, or federation - dates from this period. It showed that the
political consciousness of the Muslim community had reached an important point;
its members defined themselves as a community separate from all others. The
Constitution also defined the role of non-Muslims in the community. Jews, for
example, were part of the community; they were dhimmis, that is, protected
people, as long as they conformed to its laws. This established a precedent for
the treatment of subject peoples during the later conquests. Christians and
Jews, upon payment of a yearly tax, were allowed religious freedom and, while
maintaining their status as non-Muslims, were associate members of the Muslim
state. This status did not apply to polytheists, who could not be tolerated
within a community that worshipped the One God.

Ibn Ishaq, one of
the earliest biographers of the Prophet, says it was at about this time that
Muhammad sent letters to the rulers of the earth - the King of Persia, the
Emperor of Byzantium, the Negus of Abyssinia, and the Governor of Egypt among
others - inviting them to submit to Islam. Nothing more fully illustrates the
confidence of the small community, as its military power, despite the battle of
the Trench, was still negligible. But its confidence was not misplaced. Muhammad
so effectively built up a series of alliances among the tribes his early years
with the Bedouins must have stood him in good stead here- that by 628 he and
fifteen hundred followers were able to demand access to the Ka'bah during
negotiations with the Meccans. This was a milestone in the history of the
Muslims. Just a short time before, Muhammad had to leave the city of his birth
in fear of his life. Now he was being treated by his former enemies as a leader
in his own right. A year later, in 629, he reentered and, in effect, conquered
Mecca without bloodshed and in a spirit of tolerance, which established an ideal
for future conquests. He also destroyed the idols in the Ka'bah, to put an end
forever to pagan practices there. At the same time Muhammad won the allegiance
of 'Amr ibn al-’as, the future conqueror of Egypt, and Khalid ibn al-Walid,
the future "Sword of God," both of who embraced Islam and joined
Muhammad. Their conversion was especially noteworthy because these men had been
among Muhammad's bitterest opponents only a short time before.

In one sense
Muhammad's return to Mecca was the climax of his mission. In 632, just three
years later, he was suddenly taken ill and on June 8 of that year, with his
third wife 'Aishah in attendance, the Messenger of God "died with the heat
of noon."

The death of
Muhammad was a profound loss. To his followers this simple man from Mecca was
far more than a beloved friend, far more than a gifted administrator, far more
than the revered leader who had forged a new state from clusters of warring
tribes. Muhammad was also the exemplar of the teachings he had brought them from
God: the teachings of the Quran, which, for centuries, have guided the thought
and action, the faith and conduct, of innumerable men and women, and which
ushered in a distinctive era in the history of mankind. His death, nevertheless,
had little effect on the dynamic society he had created in Arabia, and no effect
at all on his central mission: to transmit the Quran to the world. As Abu Bakr
put it: "Whoever worshipped Muhammad, let him know that Muhammad is dead,
but whoever worshipped God, let him know that God lives and dies not.
Source: islamicity.com